Second largest US telephone cooperative will leverage MetaSwitch technology and expertise to enable smooth next-generation network migration

Quebec City, OPASTCO Summer Convention: July 2008. MetaSwitch, a leading solutions and application provider, today announced that the Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA), headquartered in Palmer, Alaska, has purchased the MetaSwitch softswitch and MetaSphere application suite to enable the delivery of traditional and next-generation telephony services. Later this year, MTA will begin offering the MetaSwitch-powered services to its 40,000 business and residential subscribers spread out over more than 10,000 square miles in South-Central Alaska. MTA plans to eventually migrate its current legacy switching platform to a fully converged, MetaSwitch-powered next-generation network to consolidate its resources, helping to reduce its carbon footprint.

“For more than 55 years, MTA has invested in the highest quality, most advanced products available in the industry,” said Samantha McKibbin, marketing product manager at MTA. “After evaluating a variety of vendors, we chose MetaSwitch because of the company’s reputation as a trusted solutions provider and its extensive product and applications portfolio. The quality of the MetaSwitch professional services and customer support organization will be instrumental as we navigate our migration to a next-generation network.”

MTA will deploy the MetaSwitch distributed softswitch in its Palmer headquarters to deliver both traditional and IP-based voice services to end-users. After this roll-out, MTA plans to deploy additional MetaSwitch softswitches in strategic locations to enable the delivery of services to a broader customer base, as well as help combine offerings to customers that have multiple business and residential locations.

By early 2009, MTA plans to transition its entire current voicemail platform to the MetaSphere voicemail platform in order to provide current customers with access to advanced voicemail products and services. In addition, MTA will deploy the MetaSphere application suite to enable the quick delivery of an assortment of sophisticated services designed to help MTA differentiate its product offerings.

“MetaSwitch understands that for rural carriers like MTA to be successful in difficult geographic markets, they need to cost-effectively offer higher-value services,” said Jeff Lattomus, area vice president at MetaSwitch. “Additionally, forward-thinking carriers are also looking for ways to conserve environmental resources and reduce operational costs. MetaSwitch remains committed to the continuous development of green technologies that enable service providers to quickly deliver these compelling, revenue-generating services, while providing the foundation to transition from legacy to next-generation environments in order to reduce operational costs and conserve environmental resources.”
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